This portrait of Giuseppe Ceracchi is part of a set of miniatures John Trumbull painted in Philadelphia in 1792. A sculptor and  fervent revolutionary, Ceracchi came to America from Italy in 1791 hoping to receive a commission for a sculpture depicting Liberty. While waiting for Congress to respond to his proposal, he executed terra-cotta busts and medallions of leading political figures, including George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Only a few of these studies were carved in marble. Trumbull later tried to recover the originals, but Ceracchi had taken them back to Europe after his project was voted down. Ceracchi also modeled a bust of Trumbull, perhaps at the same time that Trumbull painted his miniature.